Fields of Gold
by ginevrahermione
Summary: Forever and always Albus. We'll walk in fields of gold.


A/N - Hello lovely readers. I hope you are all well and happy and enjoy this story. If you arn't happy and are in search of a little solace, I hope that this will bring you the hope and happiness that you seek. Smile, it's infectious!

Disclaimer: As much as I _wish_, the characters and anything else from the Harry Potter books are JK Rowling's property. The song lyrics are 'Fields of Gold' by Eva Cassidy. The plot's mine though!

_**Memories: Fields of Gold**_

Summer had come early that year. The gentle breeze that now swept the trees of their drifting, delicate blossom served as an everlasting and welcome reminder of happy moments; family picnics, romantic excursions to the beautiful Scottish lochs. It blew the blossom off the startling white marble tomb at the lake's edge. For one infinitesimal moment, the woman who stood simply at the shore of the black lake felt at peace, as she was carried away to a distant place to be with her favourite memory, her favourite time.

With slightly parted eyelids and deep, persistent breaths, the woman who gazed far beyond the horizon visited her last hope; her comfort and support in a grief that surpassed any type felt by those who accompanied her. In that one mere moment, she was not with them - she had left them for a life far away, lost in an intertwined knot of laughter and unshed tears. Lost, in a tangled web of unsaid comments. Unsaid, unshed perhaps, yet wonderfully, mercifully reachable.

It took only that one, insignificant second for the painful, yet beautiful memory to surface in the depths of her usually organised mind and unravel itself for her deep inspection. For she would inspect it thoroughly, it gave her peace, time; hope. It gave her life.

To a passerby, the old woman with the ebony hair that hung to her waist and fluttered gently around her delicate features, flicking wispily to rest on her high forehead was simply admiring the view. No one alive was destined to guess where her thoughts truly lay. The sole person that reserved that right was long gone, lying in fields of gold.

_You'll remember me when the west wind moves  
Among the fields of barley  
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky  
When we walked in fields of gold  
_

A young Minerva McGonagall sighed contentedly, a quaint and rare smile gracing her thin yet rosy lips. A smile filled with unsaid emotion for her best friend, her lover, her equally young husband. Equally young: perhaps not in age, but certainly in maturity. The smile grew, now one to shame the sun and the divine heavens above. Never had the young woman been happier, never would she be so content again. She began to spin, spreading her arms wide to encompass as much peace and light as she could in these dark and sombre times.

As she twirled faster and faster in her elation, a man with an auburn beard that seemed to glow like fire in the glare of the sun and deep blue azure eyes approached her, breaking into a run to meet her outstretched and still revolving arms. All of a sudden, grabbing his waiting hand, she dropped to lie in amongst the sheaves of barley, trapping his partially parted lips with her yielding ones for a fleeting kiss.

_So she took her love for to gaze awhile  
Among the fields of barley  
In his arms she fell as her hair came down  
Among the fields of gold_

In his arms she fell as he mischievously pulled her hair free of its tight confines. Why she insisted on trapping her striking, silken locks every day, he would never fathom. She said it helped her with her teaching, he just agreed - anything for his Minerva. She did not seem to mind his mischief now, though. The silken tresses ran smoothly through his fingers like woven silk sheets off a summer bed, every touch of his fingers against her scalp eliciting a little moan, a sound full of love and devotion. Their voices, her soft and floating, Scottish and lilting against his rougher, deep tones, meddled together in a confession of feelings that they would carry with them to the grave.

_"I love you, Albus."_

_"Forever and always, Minerva. Forever and always."_

A promise repeated on their wedding rings. Wedding rings that could never be shown to those they loved, or to those that they did not. Every day for the rest of their long, wisdom filled lives.

_Will you stay with me will you be my love  
Among the fields of barley  
And you can tell the sun in his jealous sky  
When we walked in fields of gold  
_

As the glaring sun began to dim, shooting rose tinged rays of colour across the sapphire sky, the lovers lay oblivious to the rest of the world. They did not sense night creeping upon them with long fingered hands, they were too much wrapped up in their own warmth to notice as the last of the songbirds succumbed to sleep and ceased to sing.

_I never made promises lightly  
And there have been some that I've broken  
But I swear in the days still left  
We will walk in fields of gold  
We'll walk in fields of gold  
_

The daylight gone, the young newlywed pair lay there well into the night, sharing brief kisses and exclamations of loyalty and dedication. Every brush of her cheek against his bringing with it a new promise of life still to come, one to join the nest of promises and memories on which she would lay down and bring up each of her two precious children.

_I never made promises lightly  
And there have been some that I've broken  
But I swear in the days still left  
We will walk in fields of gold  
We'll walk in fields of gold  
_

No one likes to be alone, Albus. Forever and always, we will walk in fields of gold.

_Many years have passed since those summer days  
Among the fields of barley  
See the children run as the sun goes down  
As you lie in fields of gold_

Pulling out of the memory with more determination than she knew she possessed, the woman returned to the world she now occupied in mind, body, and spirit. Minerva watched the children of the Order run towards her, as once she had so complacently done with her own children. She felt a gentle breeze arise to cool her flushed cheeks, and welcomed it as gratefully as she had all those many years before, when she had walked in fields of gold.

_You'll remember me when the west wind moves  
Among the fields of barley  
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky  
When we walked in fields of gold  
_

From the other side of the lake, Ares and Athena Dumbledore watched their mother relive the memory. They knew where her mind lay; they knew its course as it travelled beyond the realms of the living. As sure as they were, and they were correct, they could never truly appreciate what came with it. They would never partake in the simple and pure solace offered to their mother only; solace to reach the light beyond the darkness.

They would never walk in fields of gold.

_When we walked in fields of gold  
When we walked in fields of gold_


End file.
